Share this Page

Aston Villa boss Garde confirms interest in Arsenal’s Debuchy

Remi Garde admits he wants to bring Mathieu Debuchy to Aston Villa, while Adama Traore has been ruled out for over two months.

Arsenal right-back Debuchy could to be allowed to leave this month and Garde has spoken to Gunners boss Arsene Wenger about the possibility of a move.

The 30-year-old has made just seven appearances for Arsenal this season and played only twice in the Premier League.

“I had a conversation with Arsene a few days ago about some of the players and Mathieu Debuchy was among these players,” said Garde, who played under Wenger at Arsenal.

“It’s too early and it won’t help me or anyone to go forward in this style to make too many more comments.”

Garde refused to talk further about Loic Remy after conceding he understood why Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink was unhappy with his public statement of interest last week and insisted Jack Grealish will not go out on loan after being linked with Leeds.

But Garde has suffered another injury blow with winger Traore ruled out for up to 10 weeks with a broken foot after he limped off in last week’s 3-1 defeat at Sunderland.

Garde added: ‘It’s a big blow, not more, not less, than every other player. When you lose a player for 10 weeks it is huge. I wouldn’t underestimate what he can give to the team, he has a profile that can be very spectacular.”

The Frenchman has also sent defender Tiago Ilori back to Liverpool after a disappointing spell at Villa.

He arrived on loan in the summer for £1million with Villa prepared to pay a further £6million to make the deal permanent if he was a success.

But the 22-year-old failed to play under either Tim Sherwood or Garde and has returned to Liverpool, where manager Jurgen Klopp is desperate for defensive reinforcements.

Klopp has lost Martin Skrtel and Dejan Lovren to hamstring injuries while Kolo Toure (cramp) is a doubt for their FA Cup game at Exeter on Friday.

“He (Ilori) has gone back. The player was not happy about his situation at this football club and not playing,” Garde said.

“When I arrived he was not totally fit, I don’t know exactly what happened between August and the beginning of November. He was not always injured but he trained with me.

“It was my decision and he’s gone back to Liverpool.”

Alan Hutton and Carlos Sanchez (both hamstring) and Gabby Agbonlahor (back) are also due to miss Villa’s FA Cup trip to Wycombe on Saturday.